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Ch.1 - Chemical Tools: Experimentation & Measurement
Chapter 1, Problem 119b

The element gallium (Ga) has the second-largest liquid range of any element, melting at 29.78 °C and boiling at 2204 °C at atmospheric pressure. (b) Assume that you construct a thermometer using gallium as the fluid instead of mercury and that you define the melting point of gallium as 0 °G and the boiling point of gallium as 1000 °G. What is the melting point of sodium chloride (801 °C) on the gallium scale?

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Key Concepts

Here are the essential concepts you must grasp in order to answer the question correctly.

Melting and Boiling Points

Melting and boiling points are critical physical properties of substances that indicate the temperatures at which a solid becomes a liquid and a liquid becomes a gas, respectively. For gallium, the melting point is 29.78 °C and the boiling point is 2204 °C. These points are essential for understanding how to scale temperatures in a thermometer using gallium as the fluid.
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Temperature Scales

Temperature scales are systems for measuring temperature, with Celsius and Fahrenheit being the most common. In this scenario, a new scale is defined where gallium's melting point is set to 0 °G and its boiling point to 1000 °G. Understanding how to convert temperatures between different scales is crucial for determining the melting point of sodium chloride on the gallium scale.
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Linear Interpolation

Linear interpolation is a mathematical method used to estimate unknown values that fall within a range of known values. In this case, to find the melting point of sodium chloride on the gallium scale, one can use the known melting and boiling points of gallium to create a linear relationship. This technique allows for the conversion of sodium chloride's temperature from Celsius to the defined gallium scale.
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